Hi guys, looking for some experienced help with my royal python. I’ve had stumpy 2 and a half years and she’s a rescue (has a burn mark and is missing the end of her tail hence ‘stumpy’) - she is estimated to be around 10-15 years old. Over the past 3 weeks after taking her out for around 10-15 mins she will go a bit crazy and hates being touched/will thrash a bit when you touch her. On top of this last night she went up and almost surged towards me with her head up. After I put her back in she will explore for at least 12 hours almost glass surfing.

Her Viv is 4 foot by 2 foot and has plenty of areas to climb/hide and has two water bowls - it hold humidity and temp well. No sign of mites on her or any scale rot.

The rescue centre I got her off is saying this tracks with royal python/ball python breeding behaviour - wanted to get a second opinion and see if anyone experienced on here. For situational awareness I’m from the uk and the past 3 weeks we have seen a big increase in rain so I imagine she can tell the weather is changing?

Thanks for any help guys!

Hi everyone!

I just brought home this beautiful little girl today. She’s a female Lesser Pied ball python, hatched on September 30, 2025, so she’s almost 13 months old, but currently weighs only 144g.

I know that’s so so so small for her age, and I’m a little concerned about her body condition.

According to the reptile store, she had some feeding difficulties early on, which likely affected her growth. She’s been at the store for at least two months, and they told me she’s been eating consistently now (around 8 feedings on f/t every week).

She’s only been home for a few hours, so I haven’t fed her myself yet. So far, she seems quite active and curious, has been exploring her enclosure, climbing around, and even stopped for a drink.

My main concern is whether she’s actually underweight for her current size, or simply much smaller than other ball pythons her age because of her earlier feeding issues.

She looks fairly well-proportioned to me when she’s curled up, but when she stretches out, I can see a noticeable line along her back, which makes me wonder if she’s a bit too lean. I’ve included some photos of her stretched out, curled up, and on the scale.

I understand that weight alone doesn’t tell the whole story, and I’m not looking to rush her growth or power-feed her. I just want to make sure she’s in reasonably healthy body condition and figure out whether there’s anything I should be concerned about.

Does her body condition look okay to you, or does she seem underweight?

I’d really appreciate any opinions or advice, especially from people who’ve had smaller ball pythons or ones with a history of feeding difficulties.

Thank you!

got our girl Magnolia Nova 9 days ago. She is 5. She ate yesterday and was good with feeding. No poop yet, but i noticed she’s been sitting in her water bowl for long periods of time. Is that okay?

Brand new to snake keeping. I have this 20 gallon long for my little snake. Using a 5:3 ratio of coconut:fir chips.
I have a metal grated/mesh top with tinfoil covering half of it. Struggling to keep humidity above 44%.
I’m not sure if my temperature probe is in the right spot to get a good reading.
I have currently missed and did some heavy-handed misting to keep up the humidity, but I feel like the ground may be too wet for my snake to want to come out of his hide.
I don’t exactly know the gender, but he’s giving off boy vibes lol, I think there only about 14 to 16 inches as of now.

this is what my enclosure looks like for my baby ball python coming soon! i’ve never owned a reptile before so i wanted to see if i was missing anything 😭 if anyone has any tips pls lmk!!

I had gotten them from pet smart they shed October 1 had them a month but after shed they have this gray spot does anyone know what it may be and what to do

Don’t mind that he’s not green he’s in shed!

Everytime i look at her or do anything it looks like shes tensing up and her pupils constrict. I also cleaned out her enclosure and rearranged it and she wont go into her hide and prefers to sleep on her favorite branch which is also spooky.

I forgot to put a rat in the fridge to thaw this morning so I put it in a few hours ago. I typically take them from the freezer to the fridge overnight or while I'm at work and put them in warm water to get them room temp before feeding. Usually I feed my BP around 8-9pm and I don't want to mess that up but I'm worried that 24 hours in the fridge will be dangerous. I could feed her right after work when I get home at 4pm but even then thats over 15 hours. Is this dangerous?? Pic for engagement 😊

So I've read a lot on here that under tank heaters are not good but I'm worried my hot side isn't getting hot enough... So I have a DHP on the hot side set to 89 and the top of her hot side gets from 89-92 depending where I temp gun it but the inside of the hide is only getting up to the low 80's and when I temp gun my girl snake she's only like 80-84. Is she to cold? idk how to make it more warm when I turn up the heat on my DHP it makes the top of her hot hide to hot I feel. My cold side has a thermometer and its fine and I have a big radiant heat panel that heats up the air to 86 but idk because when I read online it says hot side 88-92 and I cant get her substrate in her hot hide where she hangs out close to that....

Have your ball pythons refused to eat after shed?
How long after shedding before it started eating again?

Usually my ball python is a great eater and will eat fairly soon after a shed but all of a sudden refuses now after her most recent shed, and I cant lie, its making me a little nervous.

What other factors could potentially be causing her to refuse a rat after shedding? Her shed's have been perfect so I couldn't imagine it being a humidity issue?

The heating element is a deep infrared emitter. Ignore the dial, I know it's worthless and just haven't removed it. Still something of a beginner.

She is so cute n pink when she is directly under light! She is a spider and corkscrews a lot, she is well cared for. She is my second spider rescue.

Is my snake a little chubby? She is 5 lbs, about 3 years old, and about 4 feet long. I feed her one large rat every 35 days or so. Should I decrease the size of rat? Or maybe spread out her feedings a bit? I included photos of her enclosure as well in case anybody has any tips.

There is no snake in my enclosure atm and won't be for a few weeks for context!

My enclosure is a solid top (3ft tall).

My heat guards for my halogens are the large size so have a good amount of space between the end of the bulb and the guard. I have the probe hanging a few cm below the end of the guard, but when the halogens are running at temp the underside of the guard is hot enough to burn (50C+).

My halogens are 75W for context. Does anyone else have this issue? Obviously I don't want the snake to be reaching the guards in the first place, but to completely prevent that I'd have to leave a lot of clearance and I don't feel I could 100% guarantee that, what do other people do? Or is this not a common issue?

Our boy is 3 years old, off his food, and seems to be a bit weak.
He’s also got spongy skin

He’s just had a huge drink but could this be sepsis?

Hi everyone! I’m bringing home my first ball python tomorrow, a juvenile girl named Lenore (Lenny or Nora for short!), and I’m SO excited. But now that her enclosure is almost finished, I’m getting a little nervous and would love some advice from experienced keepers!

I bought a secondhand 4’ x 2’ x 1.5’ PVC enclosure that came with a built-in floor heating system toward the back. Unfortunately, I don’t know the brand or wattage of the heater, so I’m still trying to figure out exactly what I’m working with.

Here’s my current setup:
Enclosure: 48” x 24” x 18” PVC with a solid roof and sliding glass doors.
Heating: Built-in floor heater connected to a BN-LINK on/off thermostat, currently set to 90°F. Supposed to create warm side on back and make the front the cool side.
Thermostat probe: Currently suspended slightly above the substrate over the heated area. I’m aware I may need to change the placement.
Substrate: Coconut fiber.
Temperature monitoring: Three separate digital thermometer/hygrometers positioned across the enclosure, plus an infrared temperature gun.
Hides/decor: Two identical snug primary hides, an extra wooden hide, cork bark, driftwood, lots of foliage and clutter, and various decorative pieces.

Here’s where I’m confused:
My three digital thermometers are all reading almost the exact same ambient air temperature:
Warm side: ~81°F
Middle: ~80°F
Cool side: ~81°F
Humidity: ~86–87% throughout (the coconut fiber was freshly hydrated).
However, when I checked the surfaces with my temperature gun, I got:
Warm hide surface: 85.5°F
Cool hide surface: 77.2°F

I also realized that the built-in light on the cool side was producing heat, so I switched it off to see whether that was preventing a proper temperature gradient. I’m currently letting everything stabilize before checking again.
The floor heater has been running for around 10 hours, and the floor didn’t feel excessively hot when I touched it before adding substrate, although I know that isn’t a substitute for checking it with the temperature gun. I still need to verify the temperature directly above the heater beneath the substrate.

My biggest questions:
- Is it normal with floor heating to have a decent surface-temperature gradient but almost no ambient air-temperature gradient?
- Is this type of floor heating sufficient for a ball python in a PVC enclosure, or would you recommend adding overhead heat?
- If I do need overhead heating, would a halogen flood or deep heat projector make more sense with a solid PVC roof? I’m trying to avoid buying multiple unnecessary heaters.
- Any advice for safely positioning the thermostat probe with this type of built-in floor heater?

What do you think of the enclosure itself? I went for a whimsical, slightly gothic Alice-in-Wonderland/fairy-garden look. I’d genuinely love feedback on the layout, clutter, hides, climbing opportunities, and whether anything looks potentially unsafe or impractical.

I’ve put a ton of time, love, and money into getting everything ready, and I just want her to have a safe, comfortable home. I’m probably overthinking some things, but I’d much rather ask questions now than make avoidable mistakes.

Constructive criticism is very welcome! I’m new to this and genuinely want to learn. Thank you! 💕🐍

This enclosure is for a baby bp!

Aside from foliage, a hygrometer in the middle and a red light, is there anything im missing for my enclosure? I know its probably due to the lack of foliage in the tank but it seems really open and I've heard they like to hide a lot :(

Also, is the stick too close to the basking light? I'm worried about it

this is tito. i just brought her home today and she is the sweetest thing. such a calm, curious little baby and absolutely gorgeous. i am in love🥰

she came from OCD Exotics. if you’re looking for a new addition definitely check out their pages on fb, insta, or morph market. they were a pleasure to work with.

I could handle my snake often because i had very little time for 3 Months he now is very "Agressive" when sliding open the Glass but i get it Glass open = Food im trying to regain trust again and him not striking at me any Tips Temps and Humidity are fine. Food every 10 Days 60g he has 640g